Nashville Symphony's Free Day of Music resonates with Ms. Cheap

One of the highlights of the Nashville Symphony's Free Day of Music on Saturday Sept. 27 will be the Instrument Petting Zoo where children and adults can try out some of the instruments.(Photo: Alan Poizner / For The Tennessean)Buy Photo

When can you see 25 live music performances for free in one day, including one featuring the award-winning Nashville Symphony?

The answer is every year as part of the Nashville Symphony's Free Day of Music, which serves as part of the symphony's commitment to making music accessible for everyone in Middle Tennessee.

The 13th annual Free Day of Music is 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, with four stages of music at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center featuring everything from classical and jazz to rock and country.

The Nashville Symphony Free Day of Music is set for Sept 27, with four stages of music throughout the day.
(Photo:
Submitted
)

The annual attendance for this festive day is about 11,000 people, according to symphony officials.

The day starts with an 11 a.m. concert featuring the full Nashville Symphony in its beautiful Laura Turner Concert Hall. All you have to do is show up, pick a seat and enjoy a 45-minute concert that will include pieces by Aaron Copland, Antonin Dvořák, and Gioachino Rossini, along with Alan Menken's "Overture to Beauty and the Beast" and some contemporary pieces including Mason Bates "Mothership" — complete with electronics.

This concert is a perfect introduction to our symphony.

Music through the day will include indoor and outdoor performances by the Nashville Symphony chorus, the Nashville Salsa Machine, the Sonja Hopkins Jazz Band, 5 Points Swing, Nashville in Harmony Chorus and the Belmont Bluegrass Ensemble.

Plus there will be a noon Q&A session with the conductors, where Assistant Conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañes and Chorus Director Tucker Biddlecome will take questions from attendees.

And if you want tickets to upcoming Nashville Symphony performances, this is the day to buy them: There will be no handling fees charged on concert tickets bought on the free day at the Schermerhorn box office. The usual fees vary from concert to concert but you can easily save 15 percent by avoiding them.

More Free Day activities

NEWSLETTERS

Get the Ms. Cheap newsletter delivered to your inbox

We're sorry, but something went wrong

Ms. Cheap shares her favorite bargains and frugal finds in this weekly newsletter.

Halloween/Day of the Dead-themed family activities will be presented in collaboration with Conexión Américas and Kidsville, including face painting and a costume contest with ticket giveaways and more. A spooky story corner also will be presented by The Bookshop from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Instrument Petting Zoo is a popular feature that's not just for kids. Music lovers of all ages can try out a variety of musical instruments. (11:45 a.m. to 3 p.m.)

Food trucks will be on site in collaboration with Mesa Komal (the commercial kitchen at Conexión Américas), including Burritos La Mina, Oliver's Ice Box, Two Peruvian Chefs and a Truck, and Two Thompsons Airstream. An outdoor beer garden will also be presented by Craft Brewed.

There will also be a photo booth for selfies.

And there will be enhanced accessibility and sensory-friendly offerings throughout the day, including quiet spaces, ASL translators for select performances and other supports.

Reach Ms. Cheap at 615-259-8282 or mscheap@tennessean.com. Follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/mscheap, and at Tennessean.com/mscheap, and on Twitter @Ms_Cheap, and catch her every Thursday at 11 a.m. on WTVF-Channel 5’s “Talk of the Town.”

Nashville Symphony Free Day of Music schedule

Laura Turner Concert Hall

11 a.m. – Nashville Symphony

12:45 p.m. – Music City Brass Ensemble

2:15 p.m. – Nashville Symphony Chorus

3:45 p.m. – Organ Recital with Andrew Risinger

5:15 p.m. – Nashville Philharmonic

6:45 p.m. – Gale Mayes & Friends

8:15 p.m. – Nashville Salsa Machine

One Symphony Place

12 p.m. – Sonja Hopkins Jazz Band, presented by the National Museum of African American Music